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In the third NBA playoff game on Saturday, we have the No. 7 seed Boston Celtics playing the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets at 8 p.m. ET. The Nets swept the three-game regular season series from the Celtics.
The Celtics enter Game 1 off a win over the Washington Wizards in the play-in tournament Tuesday. This season, Boston is averaging 112.1 points per game, which is good for 16th in the NBA. But they’re holding opponents to only 111.2 points per game, which is good for 11th in the association.
The Nets ended the season on a five game winning streak, where they won by an average of 10.8 points per game. Brooklyn is averaging 118.6 points per game (2nd in the NBA) and holding opposing teams to 114.1 points per game (21st in the league). We’ll go over some ideal picks on DraftKings Sportsbook centered around Saturday’s game.
Celtics vs. Nets, 8:00 p.m. ET, ABC
Pick ATS: Nets -8
The Celtics face a tall task in Game 1 on Saturday night as they try to take down the Nets in primetime. Boston does not have the luxury of Jaylen Brown, who is out for the rest of the season with an injury. Therefore, they’ll have to lean a lot on the duo of Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker, who combined for 79 out of the Celtics’ 118 points. This season, Tatum has played phenomenally against the Nets, averaging 29.7 points per game on 44% shooting from the three-point range and 50.7% from the field.
As for Brooklyn, there will be a lot of attention on the big three of Harden, Durant, and Irving. The trio has not spent a lot of time together on the floor, but that might not matter with the star power they possess. The Nets are 5-0 against the spread in their last five games and an impressive 6-0 ATS at the Barclays against the C’s. Meanwhile, Boston has struggled with a 1-5 record ATS in their last six games against the Nets. The Celtics are also 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games when listed as the underdog.
Player Prop: Kyrie Irving over 2.5 three-pointers (+107)
Among the three-point props play on the board for this game, Irving’s number seems to have a ton of value at +107 odds. The dynamic point guard is shooting a career-high 40.2% from three-point range on 7.0 attempts per game. Furthermore, he has gone over 2.5 three-pointers made in five out of his last five games. The Celtics are allowing opposing teams to shoot 37.2% from distance this season, but 24.7% in their last three games.
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